American Studies

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Thesis Abstracts

1998-99
Caitlin BaggottDis/Placing Poetics in Here

In recent years, multi-culturalism has grown increasingly central to the American Studies Association and academic discipline. The evolution of multi-culturalism in American Studies has occurred over several decades in which controversies over theoretical unity within the discipline have paralleled conflicts over cultural unity in the nation. One reflection of these changes may be seen in recent critical trends regarding African American literature. This thesis presents a reading of the long poem, Here, by African American poet and essayist, C.S. Giscombe. I couch this reading in a description and analysis of American Studies' history, focused on changes in the construction of American culture which have informed the discipline's approach to literature between the 1930's and the 1990's.